To make this work, the beginners will have to be able to glide forward on one ski in the direction the ski is pointed, with the other ski lifted. That comes first. My mountain's reference progression has never-evers try this but doesn't keep them at it until they are successful. Some get it, some don't. The group, in order to be able to ski the beginner lift, is usually taken to the lift after a few tries. The goal of having newbies try gliding forward on one ski is to get them centered over the sweet spot of the ski both fore-aft and lateral. It's not to teach them to skate.
Here's how I teach novices to skate.
With one ski on, one ski off, I have them push off and glide on the flats, and repeat until more-or-less proficient. This is not easy for never-evers, so it takes time. People with some experience are a little faster to get it. Then I have them do exactly the same thing with two skis on.
I show them how to propel the body forward on the gliding ski by positioning the propelling ski diagonally, edging it, and projecting self forward with some oomph. They repeat this multiple times, attempting to glide forward on the same ski, until they can get the propelling ski to grip well. Then they do the other ski. Once they can glide forward on the left ski over and over, then they try it on the right ski over and over.
After that they are ready to start working on alternating. I have them push with right ski and glide forward on left ski twice, then do same twice on the opposite ski. Repeat, goal being to grip well with the propelling ski and glide farther, farther, farther each time. Twice left, twice right, twice left, twice right.
Novices have difficulty gliding any distance. At this point I introduce flexing low and stretching long to help with the length of the glide. Get the belly button ahead of the glide foot. This usually helps them lengthen the glide. All of this needs to be taught on the flats. I eventually have them alternate, one push/glide on the left ski, one push/glide on the right ski. How far can you glide? Farther, farther!
If this were a never-ever progression, then it would now be time to take the group to a very very gentle pitch to try skating there. But that's not going to work, really, because they will need to know how to stop once on the gentle pitch, since they will get going too fast for comfort and need to abort when they get frightened by speed. I don't teach a braking wedge. I want them to be able to stop by turning to the side. So they will need some turning ability before I take them skating down a pitch.
This is why I don't teach skating in the first day short never-ever lesson. I do teach it on day two, or three, though, when terrain is available. Once they can turn left and right to a stop, I teach them to skate on the flats, then get them to skate downhill, aborting to the side when they feel like it. Just doing this usually takes up the whole lesson if it's a typical one hour lesson, so it doesn't leave much time to morph the skating into actual turns. I wish we sold all-day first-day-beginner lessons, but we don't.
I did use skating in a beginner lesson one day when the skis would not move due to extreme cold and inappropriate wax. The skis felt like they were trying to scrape forward over sandpaper. My group of never-evers did indeed learn to ski with a quickly put-together on-the-fly skating progression that day. Once they were skating down the fall line on the beginner hill, I asked them to hold onto each skate longer and see if they could make their skis travel in curves left and right, which worked just fine without any further talk. Once they stopped skating the sandpaper effect brought them to a fast stop, even with skis pointed downhill. I made sure they discovered that turning to the side also stopped them so they wouldn't be unprepared for their next ski day. I vaguely remember I had them reduce the lifting of the propelling ski so that by the end of the lesson it simply was lightened. The goal was to have them extending into the new turn, and my memory tells me it worked. I never saw them again, so I hope it stuck.
I look forward to hearing how others use skating in beginner and novice lessons. If someone has a way of teaching it in a 1.5hour never-ever lesson, I'll be ready to try it.